Why Don't You Love Me?
by TMNTfan1
Summary: Tell me I'm your everything, the air you breathe. And why don't you love me, baby? Open up your heart tonight cause I could be all that you need. Erin's always been alone, before the pack took her in. But can she survive being tied to someone who doesn't want her? (A song-inspired JacobXOC short story) WARNING: CONTAINS SELF-HARM AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE!
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: Mentions of self-harm and attempted suicide!**

**DO NOT READ IF THAT MAKES YOU UPSET OR UNCOMFORTABLE!**

**XXX**

Erin's elbows were rested on her knees as she sat cross-legged on the cliff's edge, her fingers scraping through the damp grass, mud catching under her nails. Her old, well-worn I-pod was sitting in her lap on her crossed ankles, her eyes staring off across the ocean as numb tears trickled down her cheeks, her lips silently moving in sync with the song coming from the ear buds connected to her I-pod. A song she'd listened to so many times she could probably sing it in her sleep. Not that she'd let herself. She'd never let anyone hear her singing it or listening to it. Especially the guys. They were already worrying about her 24/7. They thought she didn't know that they made a point to run by her house multiple times during patrols, but she did. She simply knew better than to mention it.

The problem with the song she was currently listening to, practically on replay, was that it was kind of a sad song. Sure, if you simply listened to the opening cords, you wouldn't immediately say, "Oh, that's a sad song." It didn't have a sad sound to it, but if you actually listened to the lyrics, you'd know; and the guys would all know it matched her situation perfectly.

Erin had lived on the reservation her entire life, and her mother was Quileute, so that wasn't really where the problems start. It's the fact that her father was a paleface. It's not the fact that he's a paleface that bothers people; well, for the most part. It's the fact that Erin, herself, was the result of a drunken one-night-stand with a blonde outsider who was simply passing through. Practically everyone in the area knew the story, they just didn't have a name to put to the man's face. Erin wasn't even sure her own mother knew the name of the man. So, her father's genes combined with her mother's resulted in a baby girl with tan skin just a shade lighter than her classmates', with blue-gray eyes and dirty blonde hair; her hair obviously being the trait that stood out the most among all the black-haired natives.

So obviously, in school many kids looked at her funny when she was little, asking why her hair was so weird. There were even a few parents who told their kids to stay away from her, fearing she might be a bad example. Most parents said those things behind her back, some weren't so kind. Sure, most kids weren't openly mean to her, and in group or partner projects she worked rather well with other students. But outside of school she was a loner, with really no one she would call a friend.

This eventually lead to a depression. She wasn't positive if she had a medical form of depression, she wasn't even sure if depression could be genetic or if it was simply her life that caused it. Either way, she didn't have any antidepressants or anything to help with it, mostly because her mother was too cheap to bother with any of that, even if she knew about it. She was too busy spending her money on alcohol and her time on men. That was another reason Erin and her mother weren't exactly welcome among certain members of the tribe. Erin's mother, Deborah, to put it simply, was a slut. She slept around with any man that would bother with her. It was a miracle Erin didn't have a single sibling, much less twenty.

So, when Erin was fourteen and hit an all-time low with the emotional pain, she discovered an outlet in cutting herself. The sting just seemed to distract her long enough that she almost forgot about everything else. She wasn't sure if that was why others did it, but it seemed to work for her. Before she knew it, she was practically addicted to the feeling and escape it offered her.

She made sure to keep the scars hidden, cutting only her forearms near her elbows; and she always wore long-sleeved shirts and sweatshirts just to be safe, which never stood out since it was always so cool, even in the summer.

So, her life pretty much continued that way, she kept to herself as the loner she'd always been, and no one ever suspected anything about her cutting herself.

However, that all changed one day in the school cafeteria. One simple, seemingly non-related event that began a sort of domino effect.

~*0*~

_ Erin was simply sitting alone at one of the circle-shaped lunch tables in the corner of the lunchroom, her cheek on her fist as she drew random shapes with her fork in her mashed potatoes. Then, a shadow draped over her, blocking the bright, fake lights above. Looking up, she found herself staring up into the face of Quil Ateara._

_ "Um, hey. Uh, can I sit with you?" he asked nervously. Quil Ateara? Nervous? When did that happen? But, despite her confusion and desire to be alone, Erin found herself nodding without thinking about it. Looking a bit relieved, though Erin noticed the sadness still in his eyes, Quil sat down in one of the many empty seats across from her._

_ "Thanks. You're Erin, right?" he asked conversationally. She nodded, not knowing what to say exactly. Sure, she knew Quil. Everyone did. He was super friendly, but also a huge flirt when it came to the girls. Is that what he was doing? Flirting with her? She'd never had anyone flirt with her, so she had no way of knowing. No, that was impossible. Quil was normally so confident, like he was Taha Aki's gift to women. He wouldn't be so nervous if that was the case. And what was with him being sad? She hadn't seen him look sad since his father's death when they were six years old. She'd also never seen him alone before. He usually had Embry Call or-_

_ Oh. That was it. Erin found herself looking past him across the cafeteria, her eyes zeroing in on a particularly loud, obnoxious table with four enormous, buff guys wearing T-shirts with matching tattoos on their right shoulder and the same cropped, black hair. Among them, she saw Embry Call and Jacob Black, Quil's seemingly-former best friends. Embry was laughing at something Jared Cameron said, while Jake seemed to be sulking, ironically in the same pose Erin had been sitting in before Quil showed up._

_ A sad sigh brought her eyes back to the boy sitting across from her. "Don't stare too long, you might go blind." he mumbled._

_ Erin bit her lip, not knowing what to say to him. "Sorry. I just now realized, that, well-"_

_ "Yeah. Another friend lost to Sam Uley's cult." he mumbled, taking a spoonful of potatoes to his mouth._

_ She looked down awkwardly, not knowing what to say, or if she even _should_ say something._

_ "Do you not have any friends?" Quil suddenly asked, lifting his head to look at her. Erin tried not to flinch at the question._

_ "Huh?" was her genius response._

_ "Well, it's just that I see you sitting by yourself all the time, so, you know, I was just wondering…" he trailed off awkwardly, seeming to realize how forward that question had been._

_ She blinked before looking at her tray to avoid eye contact. "Well, I don't exactly sit alone by choice."_

_ "Why don't you sit at a table with other people?"_

_ She looked at him incredulously. "No one wants to be the awkward loner who forces their presence onto people who'd rather not sit with them. I'd rather not."_

_ Quil looked thoughtful for a moment before he looked back at her._

_ "How do you do it? I mean, what do you do for fun? Without my friends to hang out with I'm dying of boredom."_

_ Erin felt the corners of her lips twitch up slightly at the pure child-like innocence in his voice and the question. Her almost-smile the first sign of some semblance of happiness she could remember ever being caused by another human being._

_ "I don't know. What do you normally do for fun?" she asked him back._

_ Quil looked down thoughtfully. "Well, we used to hang out in Jake garage, helping him fix up old cars and stuff. Other than that, we'd either hangout at each other's houses or the beach. But I can't really do that alone. It's not as fun. What do you do?"_

_ "I don't know." she answered with a shrug._

_ "Oh come on." Quil crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, a small, playful smile pulling at his lips. "Don't you have any hobbies beside drawing pictures in food?" he asked teasingly, gesturing with one hand to her tray. _

_ One short, quiet huff of a laugh escaped Erin's throat without thinking. "Okay, okay. Um," she looked up thoughtfully. Hobbies. What did she do that could be a hobby? 'Cutting', a voice whispered in her head, and she quickly shook that thought away. "Uh, well, I like to…listen to music." she finally answered, looking back at him._

_ He looked at her expectantly for a moment, and when she didn't continue he said, "And? Is that the only thing you do?"_

_ She laughed before answering, "Well…I sometimes like to paint."_

_ "Paint?"_

_ "Uh huh, and…I like watching Youtube videos, and…uuuuuhh, I can't think of anything else." she finally admitted. Wow, she really sounded boring._

_ Quil raised both eyebrows at her. "Wow. You need to get out more."_

_ She shrugged at him, her heart feeling a painful twinge at the comment despite the fact she knew he didn't mean any harm by it. "Like you said, there's not much fun to do alone around here."_

_ He looked down, nodding thoughtfully._

_ After about a minute of quiet between them, Quil suddenly spoke up again._

_ "Do you want to hang out after school?"_

_ Erin's head snapped up, her eyes wide as saucers as she stared at him. He was looking at her nervously again, and in the back of her mind she realized she didn't like Quil looking nervous, it didn't fit him; and she also noticed the hopeful spark in his eyes alongside the sadness._

_ "Uuuumm, I don't know." she mumbled uncertainly._

_ "Just as friends." he hurriedly assured her, "I figured, you know, since we both could use a friend, and you seem like you could get out more, and all the fun things I know about around here are more fun with someone else, I just figured, you know…"_

_ Erin tried not to laugh at how flustered he seemed to be getting._

_ "Well…" she trailed off thoughtfully before figuring 'Why not?', "Okay."_

_ A few hours later, Erin and Quil were on the beach walking towards the water barefooted, their shoes in their hands._

_ "So, now what?" she asked, looking up slightly at him. She'd been to First Beach hundreds of times, but she usually just walked around or sat in the sand by herself._

_ Quil looked around thoughtfully for a moment before his face lit up. "Wanna build a sandcastle?" he asked excitedly as he looked down at her, a little skip in his step as he turned his whole body to face her._

_ Her eyes widened for a second in surprise at how suddenly his excitement appeared. But seeing how his face lit up, she almost didn't notice the smile appearing on her own face. "How old are you?" she asked teasingly. He stuck his tongue out at her before he sat in the sand. After a moment, she joined him as he began gathering piles of damp sand in front of him, attempting to shape them into a tower. She laughed at how ridiculous his 'castle' looked, but helped him nonetheless._

_ As he rambled on about random topics, she found her mind wandering, but not in the bad way it normally did. She realized she rather enjoyed hanging out with Quil. He was fun and a good distraction. He barely knew her, but recognized the fact that she was just as alone as him. Some might say it was simply out of convenience, and that thought made her realize that; like Jacob, Embry, and the other guys; Quil could soon join Sam's group, despite the fact he'd mentioned to her on the walk to the beach that he was afraid of 'being next'. But from the sounds of it, Jacob and Embry didn't want to join Sam, and look where that ended._

_ A sliver of fear worked its way into Erin's chest, making her hands pause in where she'd been packing the sand into the side of the tower. Maybe she really _was _a convenience to Quil. And as soon as he joined his friends, she'd be dropped just like they did to him. The thought shouldn't have hurt her the way it did, after all she'd just officially met Quil that afternoon. She didn't even know if she considered him a friend, or if he considered her a friend. But there was just something about him…No, she didn't feel anything romantic for him. But she just felt like…home. Like she was where she belonged. She'd never felt like that before. With her mom, in classes, at recess at school;…she'd never really felt like she belonged, like she was an outsider wherever she went. But it was different with Quil somehow. She didn't feel so empty anymore. Like a small portion of the gaping space in her chest that was her soul simply clicked into place, making the hole smaller and the pain easier to bear._

_ So, what would happen if he did end up joining Sam? She would be left alone once again. And while that shouldn't have affected her, after all she'd been alone her whole life, it still hurt for some reason. She didn't know if she could take going back to having no friends. Or, in the very least, it would take her some time to get used to it again._

_ It was then that Erin realized Quil had stopped talking. When she looked up at him she realized he was glaring at the castle as he patted some sand into place. She briefly wondered it he was mad at her because she hadn't been paying attention to him, but she noticed he kept casting angry glances past her up the beach. Looking over her shoulder, she saw why._

_ Four tall, shirtless guys were walking out of the water, laughing and pushing each other. It looked like they'd been cliff diving judging by where they were coming from. She recognized Jacob, Embry, and Paul but Jared wasn't with them and there was an older-looking guy with them. Though he only looked a few years older than them. Since she never met him before, Erin guessed he was Sam Uley. _

_ She noticed they were walking towards herself and Quil, probably to leave the beach, but she wasn't sure. Turning back to Quil, she noticed he was trembling and looked angry and uncomfortable._

_ "Quil, do you want to leave?" she asked quietly. His eyes snapped up as if he'd forgotten she was there. He swallowed thickly as the trembling slowly stopped. After a few moments he nodded. She gave him a reassuring smile and stood up, waiting for him to join her._

_ They grabbed their shoes and went to walk back up the beach, but of course Sam's Gang crossed their path, making the two pause so the guys could keep walking. Erin noticed all four of the guys seemed to eye her wearily, glancing almost nervously between her and Quil. She wasn't the only one to notice._

_ "Got a problem?" Quil demanded angrily. She looked at him in surprise. She didn't expect him to talk to them, and she'd never heard him really get mad before._

_ The others looked away in sync, but Paul didn't seem to get the silent memo. He smirked at Quil and stopped walking._

_ "Just wondering if you two were held back a few years. Building a sandcastle? Seriously? Is that your way of impressing a chick, Ateara?" he taunted. Erin's eyes burned, for some reason that comment probably stung her more than it did Quil._

_ "Shut up! It's none of your business!" Quil snapped, his body trembling again._

_ "Paul." Sam warned, grabbing Paul's shoulder and shoving him ahead of the group, probably to make sure he kept walking. The group continued walking like the confrontation didn't happen, but she noticed the younger two eyeing herself and Quil._

_ They all seemed to be wearing the same emotionless masks, making them all look like clones. Embry barely looked her way before continuing on ahead. Jake completely ignored Quil, but to her surprise he seemed to be looking her over. Not like he was checking her out, but like he was trying to figure something out. After his eyes seemed to rake up her body from her feet on up, he finally made it to her eyes._

_ He froze in place as his eyes glued themselves to hers, his stoic mask falling from his face. She felt like she was being drawn in, and for the first time in her life, that huge, gaping hole in her chest seemed to close up completely, not an ounce of pain left. She'd never felt so…relieved. But at the same time, she was confused, and Jacob seemed to be feeling the same, judging by all the emotions swirling around in his eyes. _

_ Then, he snapped._

_ A colorful array of cuss words spewed from his mouth as his whole body began convulsing, as if he were having a seizure, his hands gripping his hair to the point she wondered if he was going to rip the hair from his scalp. _

_ When he stopped swearing to take a breath, his eyes found her and she took an involuntary step back, fear sparking inside her. His eyes had taken on a golden color, like an enraged flame. She almost didn't notice that two of the guys had appeared and were each grabbing one of Jacob's arms, yelling at him to calm down and trying to drag him away._

_ It was then she realized he was still yelling. At her. His words barely even registered in her mind, but she knew they weren't good words._

_ She was suddenly shoved back, falling on her butt in the wet sand. Quil's back was to her, his knees barely bent as if he were trying to protect her._

_ "Don't talk to her like that! You don't know anything about her!" he screamed at Jake, both boys shaking._

That's _when her life truly changed. Why? Because in the next instant, both boys exploded before her very eyes._

_ And in their place were two wolves._

~*0*~

Erin had passed out on the spot, no surprise there. And when she woke up, she was on a couch in an unfamiliar house with booming voices and mouthwatering smells coming from the kitchen through a large entryway. A couple seconds after she opened her eyes, she was suddenly surrounded by a few tall, shirtless guys and waves of scorching heat.

A woman's voice told the others to back off, and Erin realized she was in the room with Sam, a woman she guessed was Emily Young, Paul, Embry, and Jacob was on the far side of the room glaring at her. Sam told Embry to tell Quil and Jared she was awake, and then began his explanation of everything.

She learned about the pack, and how all their tribe's legends were true. She'd only ever heard the basics of the legends that they told in school, so Sam gave her a brief retelling of them so she'd understand. She was shocked, obviously, and a little nervous being around them for a while, but she warmed up as Sam continued. He told her how he was the first to phase because a coven of vampires called the Cullens moved to the area a couple years back, then he was followed by Jared, Paul, Embry, Jake; and lastly Quil phased for the first time on the beach.

Sam also explained in Quil's defense he hadn't met to shove her to the ground. When they go through the phase, their bodies went through changes. They grew taller, stronger, had larger appetites, and their senses heightened. Since Quil wasn't used to his new strength yet, he'd meant to gently push her behind him, not shove her to the ground. Erin responded that she was fine, and that she wasn't angry at Quil for that, to which Sam jokingly replied that Quil would be relieved to hear that.

The next part was what Erin, to this day, wished she never learned about.

Imprinting.

Sam described it as being "stronger than love at first sight". As if "gravity shifts so his imprint is the center of his world". And "every other connection in the wolf's life is severed, or made secondary to her".

As Sam described it, Erin didn't know what to think. She wasn't stupid. She could tell by the loving looks he kept casting in Emily's direction as he described it that he had imprinted on her. And partially because of that, she wasn't sure what to think of imprinting.

On the one hand, it almost sounded like forced love. Like the wolves or their imprints didn't have any choice. And Erin knew pieces of the Sam-Leah-Emily love triangle. Is that what happened? Sam dumped Leah for her _cousin_?

But on the other hand…Erin never had anyone love her. Heck, no one in her life had even _liked_ her, she didn't know what it felt like to be loved, or to be _in _love. And Sam and Emily looked happy; well, 'happy' was probably an understatement.

As she mulled these thoughts over in her mind, a thought occurred to her. Sam had given her a brief rundown of all the other legends, why was he suddenly going into such detail over this one topic? She asked him as much, and instead of replying, he looked over his shoulder at Jacob.

Jacob met Sam's eyes with a heated glare before he looked at her. She took one look in his eyes, saw the anger, confusion, and stubbornness in his eyes, and it all clicked.

Jacob Black imprinted on her…and he didn't want her.

She played it off like she didn't care, like it didn't bother her. But she had a feeling none of the guys were buying her act.

She spent the next few weeks hanging out with the pack, both at Emily's and at school. All their classmates took notice, and rumors flew like crazy, most of them so absurd even Erin couldn't help but laugh.

Erin quickly became close with pretty much everyone in the pack. Once Quil was able to control his anger rather well, she hung out with him and Embry a lot, either at the beach or one of their houses. She also bonded quickly with Embry over the shared fact that neither had father figures growing up, and both had been viewed by their classmates as outsiders most of their lives.

Jared often helped her with her homework that she didn't understand, seeing as he was a senior and only third from the top of his class, maintaining an A average. So obviously her sophomore homework assignments were a breeze for him.

She often helped Emily out in the kitchen, seeing as how they were frequently left behind at the house while the guys patrolled or chased the redheaded vampire they'd been after for months. And since the guys were bottomless pits, cooking seemed like an efficient way to pass the time. Since her own mother never bothered with her, Erin didn't know jack squat about cooking. So, Emily was more than happy to help teach her, and Erin was surprised to find she was a quick learner.

Sam soon became a sort of older brother/father figure for her, since she'd never really had a male role model in her life. He frequently looked out for her, checked up on her, and made sure the other guys didn't trample her in their rush to get food.

Paul was a bit more complicated. He never seemed to make an effort to be friendly to her, though he wasn't hostile or anything of the kind. And he made her just a bit nervous, seeing as he was known for his short temper, and she still remembered the comment he'd made at the beach when Quil phased. However, her view of him changed one day.

Erin had made three batches of sugar cookies at Emily's for when all the guys got back after chasing the redhead again. She had a feeling they wouldn't catch her, and they were always down and disappointed when they failed, so she wanted to have something ready to cheer them up. It had, obviously. After all, they only ever thought with their stomachs it seemed. At first they thought she'd helped Emily make them, but Emily made a point to inform them that Erin had made them all on her own.

All the guys had been shocked, giving her looks showing they were impressed. For one of the first times, though it was more common since she hung out with the pack, she felt proud and accomplished for something she'd done. Of course, _Jacob _had to be the one to ruin it.

He had muttered something about "That explains why it tasted funny," adding something about how Bella's cookies were better. Erin barely even had time to flinch before Paul stood, grabbed Jake by the back of the neck and dragged him out of the house. The sound of ripping clothes and growling echoed from outside as everyone stood frozen. Sam had rolled his eyes before going outside, muttering about having to break up another brawl.

Erin had sat at the table, staring blankly at the wood. Jacob's comment had effected her, and she soon felt herself slipping into her 'dark pit', which was what she called the place her mind went on a bad day; where she often thought about the pocket knife she kept hidden. Her chest felt like it was tearing open again. She noticed that when Jacob said or did things that hurt her, she felt like her chest was being ripped open more than it had before. But she also noticed that when the rest of the pack was around, trying to cheer her up, or simply being themselves, it felt like the hole in her chest was healing. But it never healed completely. Only Jacob had the ability to do that.

After a while Paul had come back in the house, saying something about 'Sam making Jake go for a run'. When she looked up, she was shocked to see Paul was covered in blood, with large scars trailing down his ribs and around his neck, yellowish bruises around his eye and nose.

Her examining brought her eyes to his, and for the first time she noticed they didn't have the same cold glint they'd had before. When they looked at her, they almost looked warm, not really friendly, but…protective. Paul offered her a small smile, and she returned it with one of her own, realizing he'd stuck up for her. Defended her, against the one who was supposed to be her 'other half'.

She wasn't stupid. She knew Jacob didn't want her. At first she didn't completely understand the situation, but after hanging out with the pack for about a week, Emily and Embry filled her in on the whole 'Bella' situation. How Bella Swan had dated a Cullen and went into a depression when the vampire left her in the woods. Jacob had brought her out of the depression, and fell in love with her. But she told him she didn't love him, and then when Jacob phased Sam told him he had to stay away from her to protect her. Jacob had wanted to imprint on Bella, so when he imprinted on Erin, he knew it would never happen. In a way, Erin understood. He loved Bella, of course he would want to fight the imprint to be with her. And she didn't want to be in the way of that. But at the same time, it hurt. And he didn't make it any easier.

There were times when she'd catch him watching her, either cooking or at school or something. And the look in his eyes always seemed to make warmth flood her body. It was like he was trying to figure her out, but at the same time, there was a shadow of the look Sam gave Emily all the time. She loved it, craved it, even. But then he'd realize what he was doing and glare at her.

If only that was where it ended.

A few weeks after she'd first joined the group, her and Emily had been cooking, no surprise, while the pack went to Jacob's house to get him. He was supposed to meet at Emily's for a meeting, but he didn't show. About twenty minutes after the guys left, Erin was mixing a second batch of muffin batter when she became aware of a rumbling truck engine approaching the house. When it stopped she heard the familiar howling sound the guys often made in their human form to let them know they were back.

She smiled when Jared and Quil entered the kitchen, heading to the table as Emily pulled a pan of muffins out of the oven to put on a plate. Quil tried to return the smile, but it seemed more like a grimace. When she gave him a confused look as he sat down, he silently glanced past her to the door. When she looked back, she saw Embry enter the house with a very pale teenage girl with thick, brown hair.

"Who's this?" Emily asked in a friendly way. Erin tried not to get angry when the girl looked away uncomfortably at the sight of Emily's scars. She went back to mixing the batter to distract herself.

"Bella Swan, who else?" Jared answered, casting a nervous glance at Erin.

Erin froze, her hand pausing as her whole body went stiff.

Emily continued to be friendly to Bella as she rested a hand on Erin's shoulder. To the others the touch looked like she was scooting Erin over so she could put the plate of muffins on the table, but Erin felt the reassuring squeeze she offered; which gave her just enough strength to continue stirring.

She tried to ignore the paleface, the girl who held the heart of the boy who was forever tied to her. She felt her heart tug painfully as her eyes burned. She knew what this meant. Now that Bella was in the know about the pack and everything, there was nothing standing in the way of Jacob and Bella being together. Nothing, except Erin; and Jacob had had no problems walking over her in the past.

She didn't realize she was still stirring the batter until Emily rested her hand on her shoulder again, whispering that it was ready to put in the muffin tin. So, she distractedly helped Emily plop the mix into the muffin liners in the pan. Maybe it was the paranoid part of her, but she felt as if Bella Swan were staring at her, even as the guys conversed with her.

The sound of laughter and the swelling feeling in her chest brought her eyes to the door, which Emily left open to let the fresh air in. Sam entered first, heading straight to Emily, of course ruffling Erin's hair as he passed to kiss his imprint. The action normally would've made Erin laugh, but she simply kept her eyes on the door as Paul and Jacob came in, laughing and shoving each other. Paul went to the table, but Erin kept her eyes fixed on Jacob. He met _Bella's_ eyes before motioning for her to follow him. She did without hesitation, and the two walked away.

He didn't even spare Erin a glance.

~*0*~

_ Watching them walk away, Erin felt like claws were ripping through her chest, leaving her to bleed out. She heard voices say her name, felt a hand on her shoulder; but she couldn't respond. Her throat was tightening, her eyes stinging, and her hand was itching to reach into her jean pocket. Where her pocket knife was._

_ Finally, she pushed past everyone, ignoring their pleas and calls as she hurried up the stairs to the bathroom, where she locked the door and leaned against her hands on the sink._

_ In the past few weeks of Jacob ignoring her, insulting her, hurting her; she'd never felt this much pain before. It was like someone was stabbing a serrated blade in and out of her chest repeatedly. She needed an outlet for the pain._

_ She needed to cut._

_ She didn't even think about it, but the next thing she knew a stinging in her wrist brought her eyes down to where she'd sliced the blade across her skin, blood pooling around the thin cut._

_ She did it a few more times, until she felt like her arm was burning from the stings. In the back of her mind she heard someone knocking on the door, calling her name and telling her to open the door._

_ She cut one more time, before the knocking became frantic pounding; a loud, panicky voice demanding she open the door. She simply stared down at her bloody arm, her vision going blurry as a drop of salty water fell from her face onto one of the new cuts, causing a little extra sting. She hadn't been at this point in about three weeks. Hadn't cut herself once…since she met the pack. She'd been tempted, but she hadn't done it._

_ She didn't even jump when the bathroom door burst open, splinters of woods flying as heat filled the small bathroom. Chaos ensued, and she didn't know what was happening. Someone took the knife, a hand scorched her wrist even though the grip was gentle. Sam yelled something about Quil needing to get out. _

_ After about ten minutes, the bleeding stopped and her wrist was bandaged. Now, she was sitting on the couch with Emily sitting beside her holding her hand, Quil was still gone since he lost control of his anger, Paul standing in the corner with his arms crossed, Jared sitting in the recliner, Embry standing by the door, and Sam knelt in front of her._

_ Finally, they forced the truth out of her. How long and why she'd been cutting herself. She was ordered to never do it again, and even though no one said it, she knew she would be kept under constant supervision from then on, which she was._

~*0*~

When Jacob and Bella returned, Embry had pulled Jacob aside to inform him of what went on while he was gone. To Erin's surprise, Jacob approached her in the living room immediately. Emily had banned her from the kitchen for the day to 'take it easy', but Erin had a suspicion it was more to keep her away from all the kitchen knives. Jacob entered the room, surprisingly without Bella, who Erin could hear in the kitchen. He looked at Quil, who had returned and was keeping her company watching TV. They seemed to communicate silently for a moment before Quil nodded and went into the kitchen to leave them alone. Jacob took Quil's vacated seat next to her on the couch.

~*0*~

_ "So, you want to tell me what's going on?" he asked after several moments of awkward silence._

_ "Not really." she answered, her voice an emotionless drone._

_ "Why not?"_

_ "One, Embry already filled you in; and two, I don't want to."_

_ "Why don't you want to?"_

_ Erin turned and stared into his eyes. She could tell he was searching hers, trying to pinpoint what she was thinking and feeling._

_ "Why would I want to?" she asked simply. He looked down at his feet, as if thinking about what to say in response._

_ "Embry said you're depressed because of your home life and because you've never really had any friends growing up." He didn't say it mockingly, or cruelly in any way. He said it…searchingly. As if trying to gage her own reaction, to see if he were correct. "And that because of your depression, you started cutting yourself a couple years back."_

_ "If you seem to know my whole life story, what do you want me to say?" she asked sarcastically, leaning back on the couch with her arms crossed, staring straight ahead in hopes of Jacob not knowing how he was affecting her._

_ "I'm trying, here, Erin." he said pleadingly._

_ "What, for three seconds?" she retorted before she could stop herself. When he looked over at her with wide eyes, she swept on, "Everyone else in the pack has been 'trying' for almost a month now. And the answer they got earlier was just a basic rundown of my life story, that's more than anyone's ever gotten in my entire life. And you think that trying for one minute is going to make me let you in my head? Let you hear all my thoughts, feelings, and secrets?" she ranted, staring angrily into his eyes as she spoke, "Think again."_

_ They stared silently at each other for about a minute, her nostrils flaring as she nearly panted for breath. As she stared, Erin saw something change in Jacob's eyes. It was small, but then his whole expression, his whole posture seemed to change._

_ "What if I tried harder?" his voice was hoarse, raspy as he spoke. "I know I've been the crappiest imprint in history to you, hell, I've been the crappiest _person _to you. And I'm so, so sorry for everything, Erin. You didn't deserve to get dragged into all this supernatural bull-crap, and-"_

_ "'All this supernatural bull-crap' is the best thing that's ever happened to me." she whispered, then she looked him over before adding, "Well, most of it, anyway."_

_ Jacob winced. "I deserved that." he mumbled, "I wish I hadn't imprinted on you, not because of you personally. More than anything, I hate that you have to be in pain."_

_ "You love Bella, and hate me. I get it, Jacob, you don't have to sugar-coat it-"_

_ "I never said I hated you." he argued._

_ "Either way, you don't want me." she pointed out, speaking slowly to make her point. She watched as Jacob leaned his elbows on his knees, thinking her words over._

_ "Maybe not romantically…" he admitted quietly after a while, "but, if I'm being honest…being in the guys' heads all the time…they've got nothing but great things to say about you." he looked up at her, still hunched over, "And, if you'll let me, I'd like to have the chance to find that stuff out for myself."_

_ Erin looked him over suspiciously. "What are you saying?"_

_ A small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, and Erin realized she'd never really seen him smile, at least not at her._

_ "I'm saying that if you'd give me a chance, I'd like to be your friend."_

_ Her jaw went slack and her eyes widened as she stared at him, gauging his sincerity. She couldn't see anything that suggested he was faking or making it up. Thinking over her response, she answered, "If you want to be my friend, you've got a lot of work to do to make up for being a total prick to me the past few weeks. Trust is something that is easily broken, especially for me, and I don't trust you in the slightest. It's going to take quite a while for me to consider you a friend. I'm willing to keep an open mind, but that's pretty much all I can do, since I don't really think you have what it takes after everything you've said and done. So…good luck, I guess." she finally ended with a shrug._

_ Jacob nodded thoughtfully before he looked at her, a smile once again appearing on his face. "Okay, I'll do what I can to be a better friend to you, and in return you aren't going to cut yourself anymore."_

_ It wasn't a question, or even a deal, really. He was basically ordering her not to cut herself again._

_ "Okay, Jacob, I won't cut myself as long as you don't give me a reason to." _

_ His smile barely dropped a smudge at her comment, she was basically announcing he was the reason behind her little 'episode' earlier. He nodded in agreement and went to stand up. He looked like he was going to leave, but he paused and turned back to her._

_ "Oh, and you can call me Jake. I prefer when my friends call me Jake." he said with a smile, his tone completely nonchalant before he left the room. _

_ Leaving Erin with a smile on her burning face._

~*0*~

So, their relationship progressed slowly for a few more weeks. While he was nicer to her, talked to her more, and definitely made an effort to check in on her and everything, he didn't really hang out with her more than before. He spent a majority of his free time with Bella, and unfortunately _she_ spent a lot of her free time at Emily's. So, Erin had no choice but to hang around Bella Swan, and she found that, all Jake-related issues aside, she _still _didn't like Bella.

It didn't really have _that_ much to do with the fact that she was a vampire-lover, or that Jake obviously loved her, it had a tiny bit to do with the fact that she was the reason the pack was having issues with the redhead, but more than anything, it was just her as a person.

She was selfish, everything had to be about her, despite that she said she didn't like being the center of attention. Yeah bull crap on that. Then, while all the guys were away patrolling or chasing the redhead; oh sorry, while _Jake_ was away patrolling or chasing the redhead, Bella would simply sit by the window waiting for him, whining and asking when he'd be back while Emily and Erin slaved away in the kitchen. And whenever Bella actually _did_ step in and help out in the kitchen, she'd either get in the way, shove Erin around, or criticize the other girls' cooking. Every time Bella said something negative about Erin's cooking, Erin always had to stop herself from pointing out that Bella had been cooking most of her life, while Erin had started learning less than a month prior.

Unlike Erin, Bella wanted really nothing to do with the pack, just Jake. She didn't put in the effort to get to know everyone else. She just sat there uncomfortably whenever the other guys were around, not getting their sense of humor and often getting offended whenever they made a vampire joke. She even got offended when they made comments about the redhead, often correcting them that 'her name's Victoria, not the redhead'. Like the pack was supposed to care what her name was when they're trying to kill her?

So, yeah, Erin didn't exactly like Bella, but she never said anything about it to Jake. After all, he was finally being her friend and not treating her like she was a disease. She wasn't going to do anything that would upset him.

However, during times that Bella wasn't around, like when they were at school or something, Jake was actually fun to be around, and Erin found that she liked spending time with him. She found that whenever he was around, whenever he was smiling that huge smile at her, or laughing the way that he did, her whole day brightened. She found that she never went to her 'dark pit'. She never thought about her pocket knife. She just felt happier and healthier overall. She also noticed the rest of the guys didn't shoot worried looks at her anymore, they didn't walk on eggshells around her like she knew they did before. They weren't worried about setting her off as much anymore. They just laughed along with her.

But Erin should have seen it coming. After all, she wasn't good enough to deserve happiness. That's what her mom always used to say. It was simply the calm before the storm. Like all good things, it had to come to an end eventually.

And the storm that hit? It started out like any other day. She was sitting at the kitchen table with Jake, Quil, and Bella. She was peeling apples for Emily while the other imprint prepped pie tins for apple pies. Quil was eating his lunch, having just come in from his patrol. Bella and Jake were talking about some plan for him to take her cliff diving soon. Paul and Sam were in the living room watching something on TV, and Embry and Jared were out on patrol. Just like any other day.

Then the calmness of the day was shattered by a howl ripping through the sky so loud even Erin and Emily jumped in fright. The guys all looked at each other in worried confusion as they stood up. Jake ruffled Erin's hair as he hurried past and Sam kissed Emily before he left out the back door. Erin was aware of Bella trying to get Jake to tell her what was going on, but then the phone rang. She saw Emily wipe her hands off before answering.

That's when they figured out what was going on.

Sue Clearwater was in frantic tears on the phone as she told Emily that her daughter Leah had phased during an argument with her father, causing Harry to have a heart attack and her 14 year old brother Seth to phase as well. Emily left to meet Sue at the hospital while Erin offered to clean everything up for her and wait for the guys to get back to fill them in. Only after Emily left did Erin realize Bella was no longer in the house, but that was the farthest thing from her mind.

It turned into one of the longest days of Erin's life, but long story short; Bella had left to go cliff diving alone since Jake wasn't around to take her. And why wasn't Jake around to take her? Because he was with his pack trying to help their two newest members, and then the redhead showed up so the pack had to split up to deal with her, too. Then, Jake had to go rescue Bella because she jumped in the ocean only a few cliff faces away from where the redhead jumped into the ocean. Erin stayed at Emily's house, making a few simple meals while the pack filtered in and out while they filled her in on what was going on. Then Jake came over, ranting frantically to her about how Bella left him to go rescue her bloodsucker in Italy even after everything that he'd done to her. While she listened to him rant, Erin felt like her chest was tearing open all over again. Part of that was because she felt bad that Jake had to be in so much pain because the girl he loved left him. But mostly it was because, while they had agreed to only be friends, it killed Erin that Jake was ranting to her about the girl he loved, when the girl who loved and needed him most was standing there listening to him. And he didn't even realize it.

In the few days that followed, Erin practically lived at Sam and Emily's, helping everyone in any way she could. Emily tried to help cook, but she was so shaken up at loosing her uncle that Erin just shooed her into the living room to sit with Sam, who was more than willing to hold her together. Some of the guys even tried to help her where they could, doing dishes or cutting vegetable. Everyone came together like a family should in times like this. Whether they were helping Sue plan her husband's funeral, staying with Seth and Leah, patrolling, or just chilling at Sam and Emily's house.

Everyone except Jake. When he wasn't running his scheduled patrol, or 'babysitting' the Clearwater siblings, he was AWOL, probably calling or visiting the Swan house, checking if his precious Bella was home yet.

Erin tried not to think about Jake. She tried to distract herself by pouring herself into cooking and cleaning, like Emily always did. But without Jake around smiling at her, and the guys too busy and sad to distract her, she soon found herself slipping into her 'dark pit'. And then, after about five days, Erin reached her tipping point. Just a few simple words tore Erin apart more than she ever thought anything could.

~*0*~

_ Erin slipped the spatula under the hamburger patty, lifting it off the frying pan and onto the plate that was already piled high with hamburgers, the counter space surrounding her covered in plates of sliced tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, cheese slices, buns, ketchup, mustard, and bags of potato chips for the guys to make their own lunch. Feeling like that was enough for now, Erin turned off the burner and set the spatula on the counter beside the stove._

_ Paul, Seth, and Jared had left a few minutes ago, Jared to switch out with Jake and the other two to patrol. Seth had phased back after about the third day of being a wolf, while Leah was still struggling with it. So, Jake was with her now, probably doing more harm than good, until Jared took his place. Sam had taken Emily grocery shopping, probably more to distract her and get her out of the house than anything, but they did need more food. Embry and Quil would be swapping out of their patrol shift with Paul and Seth in a bit. _

_ Hearing voices, Erin stepped up to the kitchen window, looking into the backyard to see who was coming. Jake was walking toward the house, looking pissed off about something, and to Erin's surprise, Jared ran out of the forest after him, grabbing his arm and jerking him back. It looked like Jared was talking to him, and he looked just as mad as Jake. Curious and worried, Erin pushed the kitchen window open just a crack and leaned closer to listen to what they were saying._

_ "This doesn't concern you, Jared. Back off." Jake's voice growled._

_ "Like hell it doesn't, Jake. If you ask me, the rest of us care about her more than you ever will." Jared snarled back. Erin blinked, realizing she'd never heard Jared growl before. He was always the calm, level-headed one._

_ "Shove off, Cameron." Jake snarled, throwing Jared's arm off him. "You don't know a damn thing about it. You don't know what it's like having your choice taken away from you."_

_ "So that's it, huh? You don't really care about her or being her friend, you're just trying to appease the imprint, is that it?"_

_ Jake growled a low warning growl that Jared didn't listen to._

_ "Why can't you just wake up, Jake? Why can't you realize what the rest of us already know? Bella never loved you! She was using you as a crutch! But there's a girl in there that actually does care about you!" he shouted, pointing at the house, "For whatever reason, she cares about you, and she's hurting. We can all see it. She's hurting and she's broken a hundred times worse than Bella ever was. Why can't you get your head out of your ass and see that for yourself?"_

_ "The imprint is being whatever she needs me to be. And she needs me to be her friend." Jake snarled defensively._

_ "See, that's where you're wrong. Have you not seen everything that's been going on the past couple months? She's got plenty of friends now. She's got every single one of us as friends, brothers even. And deep down, I know that you know that there's something she needs more than friendship, Jake."_

_ "And what's that, wise and mighty Beta?" Jake asked sarcastically._

_ "Have you not seen how she looks at Sam and Emily? I don't even think she realizes it, but whenever Sam and Emily are being all cuddly and doing things couples do, Erin always watches them with this sad little smile on her face, and she looks like she breaks just a little every time she sees them like that. Then she'll look over at you and that smile will vanish. Don't you get it? She wants that. She may or may not realize it, but she does. She wants to be loved, Jake. She's never had that. And that's not something the rest of us can give her, only you can."_

_ Erin looked down as she listened to Jared talk. She never even realized she did that, but now that she thought about it, she realized Jared was right._

_ "Yeah, well she's never told me that. So how am I supposed to do anything when she doesn't tell me what she wants?" Jake demanded angrily, crossing his arm._

_ "Some things shouldn't need to be said." Jared pointed out bitterly._

_ "Well, that's too bad for her, then, isn't it? Because I don't love her, Jared, I love Bella. And that's never going to change."_

_ Erin's head snapped up, tears shining in her eyes as she stared at Jake's back. Her knees buckled and she leaned her elbows on the counter to stay standing up, feeling like claws were stabbing their way into her chest, slowly tearing her heart out of her body, crushing it in the process. Out of all the pain she'd ever felt in her life, nothing came close to this. She just wanted to die to make it end._

_ Fumbling around, she found a notepad and pen, writing two quick notes, one to tell the guys to dig in; and another to tell Emily that she forgot she had an English essay that she needed to finish at home; and that she was sorry about the mess._

_ Seeing Jake heading toward the house, Erin grabbed her bag and practically ran out the front door to get away from the house as fast as possible._

~*0*~

The next day, she'd texted Sam telling him she didn't feel well and needed to stay home and rest. He responded by letting her know it was fine, and that everyone hoped she felt better. He didn't say it, but she knew he would tell the guys to incorporate her house in the patrol loop. A couple of the guys had come to the realization that when she was in her 'dark pit' she often said she didn't feel well. So they probably were worried that she would cut herself. But she couldn't think of anything else to say or do to avoid Jake without it being obvious or causing suspicions. And she couldn't bring herself to be near him.

After being around the pack constantly for so long, she knew the patrol schedule like the back of her hand. While the pairs often changed, the times tended to stay the same. So a few minutes before she knew one pair was switching out for another, Erin grabbed her I-pod and threw on her sweatshirt before leaving her house and going up to the cliffs.

And that was how she'd ended up sitting at the cliffs edge, crying silently as she listened to the song _Why Don't you Love me?_ by Hot Chelle Rae and Demi Lovato.

She had told Jake a couple weeks ago that all the supernatural bull crap was the best thing that'd ever happened to her, and she wasn't lying. The pack and Emily were everything she'd imagined a family being. And while part of her believed they were worth all the pain, another part of her just wanted all the pain Jacob Black was causing her to end. In any way she could. The pain of Jake rejecting her the way he had to Jared the day before, it was slowly killing her, tearing her apart at the seams, and she couldn't take it anymore.

The pain of him hating her was nothing. Watching him with Bella was like a walk in the park. Letting him vent to her about the pain _Bella _caused _him_ was fine. But for him to act like her friend, to pretend that he cared about her, to string her along, and then to blatantly shout at his friend behind her back that he didn't care about her and never would…It would've been less painful for him to stab her through the chest with an actual knife.

And she couldn't take it anymore. Forget her 'dark pit', this was her all-time low. This was an abyss that she didn't think she could ever escape.

Part of her argued that the rest of the pack cared about her. They had welcomed her in when Jake wanted nothing to do with her, they had become her friends, her family.

Part of her argued that Emily needed her. She'd already lost an uncle this week, and had to watch her cousins join the pack. That losing Erin would kill her.

Part of her argued that she was no better than Bella if she did this. She would be hurting the others, causing them more trouble and pain just to help herself. That she was selfish for even considering doing this now that there were people who actually cared about her.

But the sad part is that she didn't care. All those thoughts were in the back of her mind. She couldn't see any other solution. Cutting wasn't enough to make the pain go away anymore. And she _desperately_ needed the pain to go away.

So, she pulled the ear buds out of her ears, unplugged them from her I-pod, and pulled her sweatshirt over her head. She didn't even feel the sting of the icy wind hit her arms. She pulled the small note out of her back jean pocket, reading it over.

_I'm sorry I'm not what you wanted, Jake. I'm sorry I was such a burden._

_Now you don't have to deal with me anymore._

_Erin_

Short, sweet, and easy to understand. Erin pulled the hair elastic from her wrist, putting it around her I-pod to hold the note to the back of it while the small device continued to play the same song on replay. She bundled her sweatshirt up and placed the I-pod in the center of it. She had already wasted time. She needed to hurry unless she wanted one of the wolves to stop her. They'd probably realize she wasn't home and follow her scent to find her.

Standing up, she peaked over the cliff's edge. Instead of the crashing waves below, there was nothing to cushion her fall except jagged rocks. It probably seemed dramatic, but there were too many holes in any plans that involved sleeping pills, ropes, and knives, and she didn't have a gun. This way, once she was airborne, no one could save her.

She didn't hear the frantic rustling, or the rushed footsteps, or the voice yelling her name. She simply lifted one foot to step over the edge.

A thick, muscled arm wrapped around her waist, jerking her away from the edge and causing her to cry out in dismay. Realizing what was happening, Erin started thrashing, her feet kicking out as her 'rescuer' lifted her off the ground.

"No!" she screamed, tears coming more frequently, "No please! Please let me go! I can't take it anymore! I just want to die!"

The guy holding her turned her into his chest and held her as she fell into him, sobbing loudly as warm breath brushed her ear as he hushed her.

"I've got you. I got you." her hands clutched at him and her nails dug into the skin of his back, but he didn't say anything.

"Quil please." she pleaded, her voice weak and scratchy from screaming and crying, "Please, I can't take it anymore. He doesn't want me, I heard him say it. Please just let me go."

She felt the grass brush her legs as Quil sat down, pulling her sideways in his lap as he held her, letting her cry on his bare chest. She felt him shake his head against her hair, his lips brushing her forehead.

"Not happening." he murmured against her skin, "I'm not letting you go, Erin. Never."

That just made her sob more, burying her face into his chest.

Quil held her tightly to him, sheltering her from the crisp air as he rocked her, humming in her ear. He could hear music and looked over to see her I-pod on. He'd never heard the song before, but after listening to it, he barely kept the snarl from erupting from his chest. He should kill Jake for this. For driving her to this point. The whole pack knew what Jake had said to Jared in the backyard the day before. And they were all pissed at him. And apparently Erin had heard him, too.

He glanced into the trees behind him, seeing the dark silver fur of Paul watching. Paul met Quil's eyes before he looked back down at the tiny girl crying in his arms, then he looked over at the I-pod, listening to the song. His lips pulled back into a snarl.

Him and Quil had been patrolling and ran by Erin's house to make sure she was okay, only to find she was gone. So they followed her scent up to the cliff and found her getting ready to jump. Over Jacob freaking Black.

Paul met Quil's eyes again, with one thought. _"Enough is enough."_ Paul wasn't going to sit by and watch this happen.

He turned around and raced back the way they'd come, planning on ripping Jacob a new one.

**XXX**

**This was supposed to be a short story. I came up with this idea when I was listening to the song **_**Why Don't you Love me? **_**by Hot Chelle Rae and Demi Lovato, and it was only supposed to be just have the stuff from the very beginning and the end, with Erin at the cliff, but then I started adding the whole background story, and next thing I know, it's like 18 pages! But, overall, I like how it turned out, despite it being really sad. Let me know what you think, and if you didn't like it, that's not really my problem, because I like how it turned out. I may or may not add on to it to show what Paul's going to do to Jake, but as of right now, this story is complete.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Okay, everyone's been asking for me to continue this, and honestly, I really wanted to, so here's part 2. However, I'm not completely content with how it ended, and there's a couple more things I want to add, so I may or may not add in a part 3, BUT THAT'S IT! I swear! Anyway, just read part 2 and let me know if I should finish it with a part 3. : )**

**XXX**

The kitchen at Sam and Emily's house was surprisingly quiet compared to normal. Emily was stirring a delicious-smelling homemade chili at the stove, Sam and Jared were talking about patrols, and Jacob was sulking quietly to himself at the kitchen table.

Suddenly the back door slammed open, making Emily jump while Sam and Jared merely paused their conversation to look up. Emily opened her mouth to yell at whoever it was for slamming the door, but stopped when Paul flew into the room. He grabbed the back of Jake's t-shirt collar, throwing him into the wall and slamming his forearm into Jake's throat, ignoring his pack mates yelling at him. Jake struggled against Paul's hold but paused when he looked at him. Paul's eyes were wild, his teeth bared and nostrils flaring.

"You son of a bitch!" Paul snarled, sounding more animal than human. "I should rip your throat out right here! If you weren't tied to Erin, I'd kill you as slowly as possible right in this room!"

"Paul!" Sam grabbed Paul's shoulder, but Paul threw him off, taking a deep breath as he kept his arm against Jake's throat.

"You wanna know what Quil and I saw on patrol, Jake?" Paul asked with a cold smirk, looking more like a sneer.

Jake's face showed his confusion at the sudden change in approach on Paul's part, his breathing raspy with his throat partially closed.

"Well, we were running by Erin's house, you know, like we're supposed to so we can make sure she's not slitting her wrists over an asshole like you." Paul started cynically, making Jake flinch slightly before he glared at Paul, "Well, guess what? She wasn't there. So, we decided to follow her trail to see where she was. Her scent lead us up to the cliffs. Not the ones we jump from. The ones with all those jagged rocks at the bottom. You know which ones I'm talking about?" Paul checked like he was talking to a little kid.

Jake was still looking at him in confusion, not knowing where this was going.

"Well, you wanna guess what we found? We found Erin; your imprint, the girl who you want nothing to do with, the girl who wants nothing more than to be loved by someone; getting ready to jump. Off. The. Cliff." he finished the last few words slowly, emphasizing each word as he pressed his arm more into Jake's throat. Jake's eyes widened as horror overtook his features, his body lurching forward in Paul's hold on instinct. "You know what I'm talking about, Jacob? You, literally, drove Erin over the edge. If Quil and I hadn't gotten there when we did, she'd be bloody, broken, and _DEAD _on those rocks right now. Quil grabbed her _just _as she was stepping over the edge of the cliff. She cried and _screamed _at him to let her go, _begging_ him to let her die. You know why? She said she can't take it anymore. She heard you say you didn't want her. She heard you yesterday, you dumb-ass! She was already broken before she got dragged into this, and you just _had_ to keep breaking her until she couldn't take it anymore!"

"Paul, enough." Sam interrupted gruffly, gripping him tightly on the shoulder. Everyone in the room was frozen at what they'd heard, not knowing what to say. Sam tugged a couple times until Paul released Jake and stepped back, his shoulders heaving as he panted for breath.

"Is she okay?" Emily asked quietly as she turned off her stove, not taking her eyes off Paul.

Paul took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit, not wanting to take his anger out on Emily. "Last I saw, she was sitting on Quil's lap balling her eyes out while he tried to calm her down." Paul couldn't help it. He turned his glare back on Jake, "I'd gladly phase with you and show you what exactly went down. Let you see what you did to her." he growled coldly, making Jake flinch again.

"I have to go see her." Jake muttered, moving to step around Sam and Paul. Until a hand shot out and shoved him back into the wall, making the house shake.

"Like hell you do." Paul snarled, his arms trembling as he barely controlled his anger, "You're not going anywhere near her."

Jake snarled back, his own body trembling as his wolf fought for control. "She's my imprint. You can't stop me from seeing her."

"Wanna bet?" Jared stepped up behind Paul, glaring Jake down.

Jake snarled at both of them. "You can't stop me from seeing her. It goes against pack law _and_ I can easily take you both out myself."

Sam looked between Jake and the other two for a moment before looking back at Emily. When his eyes went back to Jake, he spoke, "Actually, I'm not so sure it is against pack law, Jacob. Granted, I can't Alpha order you to stay away from her, since she's your imprint. But the pack law is that an imprint cannot be harmed, and it seems like you've done nothing but harm her. And after what Paul just told us, I doubt Erin will want you anywhere near her. If necessary, the whole pack will keep you away from her, if that's what she wants."

Jake gaped at Sam. "What?! You can't be serious! Do you actually expect me to stay away from her after hearing she tried to kill herself? I have to check on her!" he argued.

"She's with Quil right now. He won't let anything happen to her. I'm sure she'll be fine." Jared reasoned, fighting the urge to glare at Jake again so he could support his Alpha.

"How long ago was it that you left the two of them alone?" Sam asked Paul calmly.

Paul thought for a moment before shrugging, "Not sure. Maybe ten, fifteen minutes. Not too long ago."

Sam nodded. "Well, I'll give Quil a call to check on her, then we'll go from there, okay?" he looked among the wolves in his room, who all nodded, albeit hesitantly on Jake's part.

XXX

Quil's arms tightened slightly around the small girl in his arms when he heard her sniff yet again. It'd taken her about ten minutes to stop crying, and after that, he'd gathered up her things, pulling her sweatshirt over her head as she stood quietly, not looking at him. Then he'd put all her things in the large pocket on the front, picked her up, and was currently carrying her through the forest.

"You want me to take you to Emily's?" he murmured near her ear. After a second she shook her head silently. "Your house?" she shook her head again. "How about my place?" he offered gently. Erin stayed still for a moment before she slowly nodded her head. Quil silently turned just enough that he was heading in the direction of his house.

When he walked in through his back door, he saw his Granddad sitting in his recliner, watching something on TV, and his mom poked her head out of the kitchen when she heard the door close. When she saw Erin in her son's arms, Joy Ateara's face became worried, but when Quil gave her a slight shake of his head, she kept silent. Quil silently walked down the hall and stopped in front of the bathroom door. He looked down at her.

"Do you want to take a quick shower? Warm up?" he asked gently. She was quiet for a couple seconds before she gave a tiny nod. He opened the door and carefully set her on her feet. He glanced around the room, subtly making sure there wasn't anything in the room she could use to harm herself, before he closed the door.

When he entered the living room his mom walked up to him, her worried 'mom' face over her features.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

Quil glanced over his shoulder before wrapping his arm around his mother's shoulders, leading her over to the couch to sit down next to her father-in-law.

"I'm not going to go into any details yet, but, for now, I'll just say she's going through a tough time…with the whole… imprint, Jacob, Bella thing." Quil finally explained after several seconds of thinking. Erin had been over to his house a number of times, and Old Quil and Joy loved her like she was family. Quil knew part of his mother wished he had imprinted on Erin, just because she could tell they were close, and sometimes Quil wished for that, too, if only to make Erin stop hurting. But, the spirits had chosen Jake, for whatever reason.

As an after thought, Quil pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He knew Paul had a knack for picking fights with Jake, especially after what went down at the cliffs, Quil would be surprised if Paul hadn't wolfed out on Jake.

So, he wasn't surprised to see he had a missed call, and it looked like Emily's house phone. He gave his mom and grandpa a small smile, holding up his phone to show he needed to make a call. So he walked over towards the back door, standing by the wall as he dialed the number.

After two rings Sam's voice spoke into the phone, "Quil?"

"Hey, I'm guessing Paul filled you in?"

"Yeah, is she okay?" Sam asked quietly, his voice worried.

Quil glanced toward the bathroom, where he could hear the shower running. "Don't know if 'okay' is a great answer. But given what just went down, she's…physically unharmed." Quil finally decided on a word.

"Do you think she'd be okay for visitors?"

Quil glared at the wall as he tried to answer that question rationally. "Maybe not right now, but maybe later you, Emily, Paul, Jared, Embry,…hell anyone could probably come over, but tell Jacob that if he comes within a hundred feet of her, family or not, I'll rip into him like a carcass." Quil could hear a snarl in the background that proved his suspicions that Jake was with them

"Yeah, kinda figured that much." Sam answered tightly. "And you're not the only one who feels that way, either, Quil. So relax, _no one_ is letting Jake near her." Quil could just imagine Sam staring Jake down, daring him to argue.

"Okay, good. She's showering right now, and I think she's going to want to stay here for a while, but I'll let you know of any changes."

"Thanks. Just stay with her as long as you can, someone can stay with her next time you need to patrol, and we're going to make sure Jake stays away from her."

"Alright. Well, I'll keep you posted." Quil finally said goodbye as he hung up the phone.

XXX

Erin didn't go to school for a couple days, claiming to not feel well. There always seemed to be a pack member or Emily with her at Quil's house at all times, if Joy or Old Quil weren't around. Sam even spent a few hours during the day with her while the others were at school, and Emily brought a few of Erin's clothes from her house. Erin's mother probably didn't even notice, or care, that her daughter wasn't at home. Erin also tried to keep herself busy, not wanting to slip back into her 'dark pit', no matter how tempting it was. So she often helped Joy with household chores and cooking breakfast and dinner, which was good because sometimes an extra wolf tended to pop in around mealtimes and check on her; usually Paul, Embry, or Jared.

Quil had given up his bed so Erin could have somewhere to sleep, despite her arguing that she could take the couch. And the couple times she managed convince Quil she could have the couch, he simply waited until she was asleep before carrying her to his room. He was stubborn like that.

No one told Erin that Jake was constantly asking about her. Or that he often slept in the woods behind the Ateara's house as close as Quil would allow. Or that he couldn't stay more than a couple hours at school because his wolf was antsy not being allowed to see his imprint. And certainly no one told her that Old Quil actually asked Quil to take him to the Blacks' house just so he could whack Jake upside the head with his walking stick.

When Saturday rolled around, Erin was chilling on the couch with Jared, one of Joy's quilts wrapped around her legs, as they talked. The house was empty apart from them because Old Quil was on a fishing trip with Charlie and Billy, Quil was patrolling, and Joy was working.

"She's just…I don't know, she's quiet, smart, the most beautiful girl I've ever met." Jared breathed, his eyes clouding over as he thought back on how he met Kim, his imprint, on Friday.

Erin giggled at the love-struck look on his face. She'd been listening to him ramble about his new imprint for the past fifteen minutes. She wanted to be happy for him…she WAS happy for him…But she was also jealous. Jealous that another girl would have her other half, a happy ending, someone to love her unconditionally. She just felt a painful twinge in her chest that she would never have that. Maybe she wasn't good enough to have that kind of happiness. Maybe-

A loud howl ripped through the peaceful afternoon, not far from the house. Jared leapt to his feet and hurried toward the back door of the house. He barely paused long enough to look over his shoulder at Erin and say, "Stay here." before he bolted towards the woods, phasing in the trees.

Erin sat there, frozen, in shock at what just happened. She was used to it, the guys running off because of a howl, but she was used to having Emily around to lean on. Because no matter how many times the guys ran off to chase a vampire, it would never get easier.

She didn't know how long she sat there. Five minutes? Ten? An hour? It felt like forever. But she was just staring at the TV screen in a daze when the back door slammed open, making her jump to attention.

Quil stood in the open doorway, his hand braced against the open door as his chest and shoulders heaved with each breath. His wild, frantic, golden-yellow colored eyes met Erin's blue-gray ones.

"Quil? What happened?" Erin asked worriedly, pushing the quilt from her lap as she stood up.

Quil took deep breaths to try and calm down, having second thoughts about what he was about to ask of her.

"Quil!" Erin demanded worriedly as she walked up to him, looking up into his panicked face.

Closing his eyes, Quil gave a resigned sigh before he looked down at her, his expression a mixture of sad, worried, and anxious.

"Jake…Jake's been hurt." Erin's breath caught in her throat, "And…well, he's asking for you. He's not too badly hurt, but he's still in wolf form and he refuses to phase back, and he's bleeding really badly, and-"

"Take me to him." Erin's voice was a quiet whisper, but she still managed to sound firm.

Quil searched her face, even as she did the same with him. "Are you sure? You don't have to if you don't want to. After everything he's done to you, you don't have to go to him. He'll heal, it'll just be a bit more painful as a wolf."

"Take me to him, Quil." Erin demanded once again, her voice a bit louder than the first time.

Sighing in both relief and defeat, Quil nodded before turning and leading her toward the trees. She expected him to hide so he could phase, but he simply hunched over and bent his knees, looking over his shoulder at her expectantly. So, she climbed onto his back and he raced into the trees, the wind blasting her in the face. She instinctively tightened her arms around his neck, trying to keep her bare arms warm in the crisp breeze. She was wearing only a T-shirt and an old pair of sweatpants since she'd been lounging around the house.

After only a couple minutes, Quil slowed down to a walk and Erin noticed voices from nearby.

"Come on Jake, just phase back." Jared was pleading with him as they came into view. A sand-colored wolf as well as humans Leah, Sam, Embry, and Jared were all standing around where Jake was laying on his side, pained whimpers and growls escaping his teeth every so often. The others glanced up as Quil approached them. Sam stepped up next to Jared, in Jake's line of sight.

"Jake. She's here." was all he needed to say before Jake barely managed to lift his head and turn it toward her. Her body froze as his eyes landed on her. He could barely keep his head up and when he let it drop back to the ground, she fought the urge to run to him.

Erin wiggled enough to let Quil know she wanted down, and then she moved to stand beside Quil. She hesitated under Jake's gaze. She could see the raw pain in his glistening brown eyes, both physical and emotional. It felt like her brain wasn't connected to her limbs as she slowly approached him, her eyes traveling over his body to the four long gashes in his flank, blood flowing in a steady stream from the wound and staining his fur. Her fingertips brushed along the edges of the clean cut, causing the flesh to twitch under her touch.

"What happened?" she asked in a hoarse whisper, not even looking up as her eyes studied the wound.

"A leech ran through the area." Sam explained, watching her closely, "Strongest leech we've ever come across. It threw Paul into a tree before Jake managed to rip its arm off, but it got in one good blow before the rest of us ripped it to pieces."

Erin nodded absently, glancing ahead just enough for her eyes to catch the small flame and purple smoke between two trees.

"We've been trying to get Jake to phase back since it happened, but he can't. He needs to relax and let his wolf melt back, but he's too tense from the injury. And he knows it'll hurt worse once he phases back to human. Our human bodies aren't as strong." Jared explained quietly, his eyes switching from Erin to Jake. He could already see Jake relaxing just a smidge with Erin so close to him, his eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths. This was the closest they'd been to each other in about a week.

"What do I need to do?" Erin asked quietly, looking up at Sam for the first time since she'd got there.

"Could you just…try and get him to relax? Talk to him and try to convince him to relax so he can phase back?" Sam asked hopefully, not knowing if she'd be up for it.

Erin bit her bottom lip before nodding hesitantly. She looked around Jake's body, trying to decide what she was supposed to do. Finally, she slowly shuffled her way around Jake's enormous body until she stopped near his head. His eyes watched her every move as she knelt near the top of his head, the tips of his ears only an inch from her knees. Timidly, Erin reached out and ran her fingers through the short fur at the top of his head, watching as his eyes closed and a sigh escaped him.

"You need to phase back, Jake." she whispered, trying to give both herself and him the illusion of privacy. "You won't be able to heal properly unless you're human." Jake whimpered and lifted his head, setting it down on Erin's lap.

Erin froze, not knowing what to do with Jake's eye looking up at her from atop her legs. Finally, she lowered her palm to his cheek, gently stroking through to his skin.

"I know it'll probably hurt a bit more than it does right now," she continued gently, "but…you might heal wrong as a wolf." she wasn't sure if that was true, but she didn't know what she was supposed to say. "Please, Jake?" she pleaded, causing him to whine pitifully.

A throat clearing made her glance up at Seth, who must have phased back. "Um, he, uh, wants to talk to you. And he's afraid that you'll leave again as soon as he's human."

Erin looked down to see Jake watching her, his large, watery, brown eye pleading desperately with her, not wanting her to leave him. Sighing, she gave in against her better judgment.

"Okay." she whispered, "I won't leave, Jake. I promise. I'll stay here with you and we can talk, okay?" Jake let out what sounded more like a happy whine, shoving his head into her stomach as his tail gave a few 'thump's against the forest floor. A quiet giggle escape her before she could stop it, thinking Jake looked like a giant, adorable puppy. She was starting to think she liked this version of him better than Human Jake.

She watched as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and relaxing his muscles. Erin's fingers continued stroking his cheek as she watched the fur melt away. His face scrunched up in pain as the last of the russet coat disappeared into his tan skin. A pained yelled erupted from his throat, and Erin pressed her cool palm to his cheek, running the fingers of her other hand through his short, black hair.

Gradually, his expression relaxed, the pain slowly ebbing from his features. Finally, he sighed in relief and looked up at her, rolling onto his back with his head still resting in her lap. His dark eyes seemed to scan her face, making her self-conscious. Hearing a rustle, she glanced toward his feet to see Jared had laid an old, ratty T-shirt over Jake's waist, hiding his private areas.

Without all the fur, Erin could see the gashes on his ribs. They were much smaller than they were when she showed up, though that might be a combination of the fact that they were healing and he was smaller as a human. The sight of the torn flesh and blood made bile rise in Erin's throat, so she had to look away. Looking back down at Jake, he was still watching her.

"Did you really mean it when you said you'll stay and talk with me? Or were you just saying that so I would phase back?" he asked quietly, sadness creeping into his attempt at a monotone voice.

Erin couldn't swallow past the thickness in her throat and had to take a deep breath before she could look him in the eye.

"I meant it, Jake. I think we need to talk, anyway."

Jake nodded

Erin glanced up at Sam before looking back down at Jake, silently hoping he'd take the hint and give them some privacy.

Luckily, Sam was good at reading silent cues. "Come on, guys. Lets give them some privacy." he ordered as they headed in the general direction of Emily's house. Sam paused and looked back when he realized Quil wasn't coming. "Quil?"

Quil met his eyes defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving him alone with her, last time she tried to kill herself." he stated firmly. Jake glanced painfully up at Erin, making her look awkwardly to the side.

Sam sighed patiently. "Quil, how about you just wait at the edge of the woods behind your house, that way you won't be able to hear their conversation, but if Erin needs you, you'll be able to hear her if she yells for you. Would that work?" he checked with Erin, who nodded, and Quil eventually nodded as well. So, Quil turned and went back the way he'd come and Sam turned to follow the others to Emily's.

They were quiet for about two minutes before Erin couldn't take it anymore.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she whispered, trying not to feel awkward with his head still in her lap.

"I figured you'd want to yell at me for a while first." Jake whispered back, not taking his eyes off her face.

"You kind of deserve it, but I figured we'd try to talk this out like civilized people."

"I'm not completely a person." Jake joked weakly, but Erin just stared down at him, not in a joking mood. Jake's pathetic smile dropped and he sighed.

"Look, Erin, I…I don't know what to say." he admitted quietly.

Erin bit her lip and looked off to the side.

"Are you okay?" Erin looked down at him, confused at the question. "Since you tried to, you know, are you okay? The guys wouldn't let me check on you."

"Maybe they wouldn't let you near me because you're the one who caused it." she couldn't help it, but she sounded like a bitter, spoiled brat.

Jake flinched. "Erin-"

"It's not even that you don't like me, Jake. I get it, you want Bella, not me. Fine. The problem is that you played with me, my emotions, my head. You reached out to me, claiming you wanted to be my friend. And you were actually fun to be around. But then you turn around and started ranting about Bella to me, rubbing your 'friendship' with her in my face, and to top it off I heard you admit to Jared how you felt the imprint took away your choices, and how you didn't care about me."

Jake flinched again. "I didn't say I didn't care about you-"

"But it still hurt, Jake." she whispered, finally looked down at his face, meeting his eye with tears blurring her vision. She laughed, a short, harsh, cold sound as she looked at the ground above his head instead of him. "You think I'd be used to people not loving me." she whispered to herself, but Jake heard her, and felt even worse.

"Erin, I'm sorry." he whispered, staring up at her face as a single tear rolled down her cheek, "I'm so sorry about what I said, I was mad, Jared and everyone was pissing me off and I just wanted him to back off. That's no excuse at all, but I swear to you, that I really do care about you."

Erin scoffed before she could stop herself, "I fell for that once already, Jake. Don't expect me to do that again."

"I screwed up, Erin." Jake tilted his head, trying unsuccessfully to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry. I was bitter about everything going on with Bella, and I was mad about not imprinting on her and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve any of that."

Erin simply stared off into the trees, not responding to him for a minute. Jake was about to say something else, when she finally spoke what was on her mind, "You know what sucks the most about all of this? Not just the imprinting, but this whole mess in general? I don't even know if it's the imprint making me feel like this, or if it's just my stupid emotions. But after getting to know you, and becoming your _friend_, if you want to call it that, I actually started to care about you. I actually started to have feelings for you. But all you ever cared about was Bella. Do you know how painful that is? Having feelings for someone who's so wrapped up in someone else that they barely give you the time of day? Knowing you're not good enough for them?" she finally looked down at him, accusations in both her tone and her stormy, blue-gray eyes.

Jake's body went cold as the realization hit him. He could suddenly see everything he never noticed before, all the signs he missed in his Bella-induced haze. While he was talking with Bella at Emily's, Erin was by the stove, glancing at them every so often. Whenever he was ranting to her about how stupid Bella was for going after the leech, he could see the pain in her eyes as she looked down at the tabletop. How had he never realized it before? He was no better than Bella, he lead Erin on and then gave her the cold shoulder in favor of being with Bella.

"I know how that feels better than anyone." he whispered quietly, even though she already knew that.

"And yet, it never stopped you from doing the same thing to me, did it?" Jake closed his eyes at the bitterness and sadness in her tone.

"I'm sorry." he breathed.

"'Sorry'? That's seriously your answer to everything you put me through?" Erin demanded. "Sorry doesn't mean crap in this situation, Jake. I know this isn't exactly what you wanted in life, but did you really think it's what _I_ wanted?"

Jake shook his head, which was still rested in Erin's lap. "No. And I know you deserve better. Especially after everything I put you through, I'm no better than Bella. You'd have been better off being imprinted on by one of the other guys, like Quil or Embry. They would've been happy to take care of you the way you deserve."

Erin bit her lip, her thoughts at war with each other. On the one hand, he said he thought she deserved better, which was a little sweet to hear. On the other hand, it sounded like he just wanted to dump her off on one of the other guys. The little voice in the back of her head that her mother caused pointed out he obviously deserved better. After all, he was the next in line to be Chief of the tribe, not to mention his 100 watt smile and body like a Greek God. And after everything Bella put him through, he needed someone who could make him smile, and make him happy; not the other way around. One of the things Erin and Jake had in common was that they both sort of needed someone to cheer them up. They couldn't possibly work well together, right?

"Erin?" Jake's voice pulled Erin out of her thoughts, and she flinched in shock when she felt the pad of his thumb swipe across her cheek. She didn't realize she'd been crying until she saw the wetness on his thumb. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asked quietly, a small, uncertain smile on his face as his eyes scanned hers.

Erin forced herself to swallow past the lump in her throat before she spoke, "I just don't understand why you imprinted on me." she whispered, looking down at the healing scars on his side, "I mean, despite everything, I know you deserve someone better than me. I mean, look at me! I'm not, well, I'm not pretty. I'm not something guys want. I'm, hell, I'm a half-breed! I'm not full Quileute, and everyone in the tribe will expect you to be with someone 100% Quileute, so, I don't know, so your bloodline won't be tainted or whatever. And you need someone who can make you smile, and I don't think I'm that person. I just, I don't understand." she finished weakly, looking away as tears burned her eyes.

"Hey," Jake whispered before he grunted. Erin instinctively put her hands on his shoulders when he tried to sit up. He winced as his healing scars pulled, but managed to push himself into a sitting position before he turned and faced her, looking her right in the eye with a stern expression.

"Let's get a few things straight, here. Alright, I may be an ass, but me not wanting to imprint on you had absolutely nothing to do with any of the things you listed. I was obsessed with someone I couldn't have, a childhood dream that I didn't want to let go." Erin looked down at her lap, but Jake took hold of her hand and kept talking.

"First off, if anything, I deserve to rot in hell alone for what I did to you, I do not deserve someone _better _than you. Whatever 'better' even means in this situation. Second, 'pretty' is the last word I'd use to describe your looks because it's the most boring word ever. You're beautiful, Erin. And I know your mom always used to talk down to you and tear you down, but she's wrong. Any guy would be lucky to be with you." Erin refrained from rolling her eyes, even as her cheeks flamed up in a blush.

"Third, it doesn't necessarily matter that you're not full-blooded Quileute. At least not to me, or anyone else whose opinion actually matters. The only reason the Elders or pack would care about bloodlines is if it concerns any future packs. And we've learned from Embry's situation that it doesn't always matter if one of the parents isn't Quileute. Since I'm a Black, any of my descendants are going to carry the wolf gene, so the fact that you're half white doesn't effect that. And fourth," he squeezed the hand he still held in his own, using his free hand to tilt her chin up. When they made eye contact, he continued, "you do make me smile. Yeah, sometimes you have bad days, but there have been times when you've made me smile, sometimes even unintentionally. We have a similar sense of humor, and, well, uh, yeah." Jake coughed and looked away awkwardly, pulling his hands to his own lap.

"And what?" Erin asked curiously, watching his cheeks grow a red tint. It was actually an endearing sight. Here was this strong, nearly seven foot tall man who pretty much held the weight of the world on his shoulders and has experienced more heartbreak than someone should in a lifetime, and here he sat before her _blushing_ over something he was about to say to her.

Jake sighed, peaking up at her with a shy smile. He bit his lip for a moment, looking back down at his lap as he continued talking, "Well, um, it's just that, well," he sighed before just going for it, "Okay, I love when you laugh because I love how your laugh sounds, and sometimes when you're laughing really hard you let out this cute squeaking sound. And you're eyes get this sparkle in them and I can't help but stare when I see it, and you get this huge smile, and one of your cheeks gets a cute dimple and sometimes your whole face flushes a cute red tint." when he finished, he squeezed his eyes shut, his muscles tensing like he expected her to freak out on him.

Erin blinked, her mouth falling open as her mind processed everything Jake just said to her. She didn't know he noticed any of that, heck she didn't even notice all of that. Well, she knew she squeaked when she laughed really hard, but it annoyed her. All that other stuff she didn't know she did. And no one else had ever paid her that much attention.

When she didn't start yelling at him, Jake slowly peaked one eye open. When he saw her shocked expression, he opened both eyes and looked at her nervously.

"Well? Are you mad? Creeped out?" he asked timidly, his hands subconsciously twisting together.

Erin slowly shook her head. "Noooo…To be honest, no one's ever noticed any of that about me, I mean, _I_ never even noticed any of that." she stared at him for a moment, her mouth hanging open as she thought of something to say, "Thanks." she finally whispered, looking at her lap as a blush spread over her cheeks again.

Jake shrugged awkwardly, looking at his own lap. "You don't need to thank me for noticing you. Besides, it still doesn't make up for what I put you through."

Thinking about what to say to that, Erin stared at a twig sticking out from under her crossed ankles. "No, it doesn't. But…I don't know, now I'm just confused." she practically whined, feeling her eyes burn with frustration.

"Confused about what?" Jake asked quietly.

"All this time you acted like you didn't want me, didn't want the imprint, now you're saying all these little, endearing details you've noticed about me, and it's really sweet, and, and, now I'm just confused." she rambled on, her hands gesturing randomly before they dropped into her lap, her shoulders sagging in defeat.

Jake sighed before scooting forward, his legs crossed like hers so their kneecaps almost touched. He cautiously pulled both her hands from her lap, holding them in both of his.

"I'm sorry for everything I've put you through, Erin. And, if you'll have me, I'd like another chance. After the past couple weeks I've realized maybe the imprint was onto something, and I'd really like to be able to explore that, with you. With Bella gone, it opened my eyes to what I was missing out on."

At the mention of the pale-faced brunette, Erin glared at the ground without even realizing it, trying to tug her hands from Jake's. But he held firm as he continued.

"I know what you're thinking, Erin, and you're not coming in second to Bella. And I'm so, _so_ sorry for making you feel that way. I see now that my pack brothers were right. She was using me to get over her leech, and I was too blind to see it. It may take me some time to get over the betrayal and pain, but if you'd be willing to give me another chance, I'd like to be your friend again."

Erin bit her lip as she looked up at him, still on the fence about his sincerity. After all, he'd already said this once before, and that fell through and ended terribly.

Jake swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing as he slowly pulled his hands from hers. Erin's whole body suddenly felt cold.

"I get it if you want to tell me to take a hike. I mean, after last time I said I wanted another chance, you'd be crazy to trust me again." he tried to sound strong, like he understood. But to be honest, he sounded on the brink of tears. And after everything he'd been through, despite her better judgment, Erin couldn't bring herself to be the cause of his tears.

"Jake?" her barely whispered voice made Jake look fearfully up at her through his lashes. "You're right, I'd be crazy to give you another chance, especially considering I don't think I could take a repeat of last time, in fact, I'd make sure Quil wouldn't be able to stop me," pain and fear lashed at Jake's whole body when he took in the implications of her words, "but…I don't know, part of me wants to try again." The fear and dread slowly turned to hope as Jake watched Erin's face. She took a deep breath, meeting his eyes, "I'm willing to give you one more chance, Jacob Black, but I'm warning you right now it will be difficult to regain my trust, and it will be easily broken if you mess up again. And this is absolutely you're _last chance_."

Jake swallowed thickly, meeting her eyes. He nodded quickly, feeling as if this were a dream.

"I promise, Erin, I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust and friendship. If I screw up again, I give you permission to sick the guys on me." he promised seriously, making Erin giggle despite the topic. She had no doubt in her mind half the pack would rip Jake a new one if he hurt her again.

"I'll hold you to that. So, with that talk out of the way, can we go to Emily's? I've missed hanging out there." she admitted shyly, making Jake smile.

"Absolutely. There's just, uh, one problem." he admitted awkwardly, his cheeks once again growing a red tint.

Erin looked at him in confusion. "And that would be?"

Jake cleared his throat uncomfortably before pointing with one hand downward. Erin looked and immediately a blush spread from her cheeks to her neck as she looked away. The T-shirt Jared had laid over Jake's waist was still there, though now it was haphazardly twisted to barely cover Jake's manhood.

Erin cleared her throat, which came out as an awkward squeak. "Um, well, uh…QUIL!" she yelled loudly, making Jake jump slightly in surprise.

Three seconds later Quil came speeding between the trees, skidding to a stop several feet from them. He glanced between them, eyes wide and brows lifted to his hairline, silently demanding an explanation for the random scream.

Erin bit her lips together before pointed in the vicinity of Jake's problem. "Can you get him a pair of shorts please?" she asked awkwardly. Quil looked at where she was pointing before a slow, teasing smirk spread across his lips.

**XXX**

**There's the end of part 2! Again, review and let me know how you liked it, and let me know if I should add a part 3.**


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